Chen Yun (Ch'en Yün;

Originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content. Learn more.

This article was originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year, an annual print publication that
provides an overview of the year’s most-notable people and events.
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Alternative Titles:
Ch’en Yün, Liao Ch’en-Yün

Chen Yun (Ch’en Yün;, LIAO Ch’EN-YÜN), Chinese revolutionary (born 1905?, Shanghai, China—died April 10, 1995, Beijing, China), was one of the last surviving members of the fledgling Communist Party’s 10,000-km (6,000-mi) Long March (1934-35) from southeastern to northwestern China to escape Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist troops. During his entire life Chen, who had no formal education, remained a highly influential conservative Marxist; during the 1980s he opposed the full implementation of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s program of modernization and economic reforms. His eventual endorsement of reforms was tempered by a stern admonition that the state must never permit "the bird to leave the cage." At Deng’s urging, Chen relinquished his posts in 1987 as a member of the Political Bureau and of its Standing Committee and as a member of the Communist Party of ChinaCentral Committee, but he continued to back younger hard-liners who shared his conservative ideology and distrust of Western democracy and culture.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Karen Sparks, Director and Editor, Britannica Book of the Year.

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